George Albert Omore Magoha (2 July 1952 – 24 January 2023) was a Kenyan consultant surgeon,

academic administrator Academic administration is a branch of university or college employees responsible for the maintenance and supervision of the institution and separate from the faculty or academics, although some personnel may have joint responsibilities. Some ...

and technocrat, who served as a Professor of Surgery at

Maseno University Maseno University is a public university based in the Maseno district of the Kisumu County, Kenya, along the Equator. It was fully fledged as a university in 2001, after being a constituent college of Moi University for a decade. It has over 10, ...

's School of Medicine, in

Kisumu County Kisumu County is one of 47 counties in the Republic of Kenya. Its borders follow those of the original Kisumu District, one of the former districts of Kenya, administrative districts of the former Nyanza Province in western Kenya. Its headquart ...

as from 17 January 2023 till his death. Immediately before his last assignment, he was the Cabinet Secretary of Education in the

Cabinet of Kenya Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

, under President Uhuru Kenyatta's second term effective 26 March 2019. Magoha was the chairman of the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC), from 2016 until 2019. Magoha previously served as the

Vice Chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth countr ...

of the

University of Nairobi The University of Nairobi (uonbi or UoN; ) is a college, collegiate research university based in Nairobi and is the largest List of universities and colleges in Kenya, university in Kenya. Although its history as an educational institution dat ...

from 2005 until 2015. He was a Professor of Surgery at the University of Nairobi's College of Health Sciences. He concurrently served as a Consultant Urologist at

Kenyatta National Hospital The Kenyatta National Hospital is the oldest hospital in Nairobi, Kenya which was established In 1901 as the Native Civil Hospital but later changed in 1963 to Kenyatta National Hospital. It is a public, tertiary, referral hospital for the Mi ...

, the

teaching hospital A teaching hospital or university hospital is a hospital or medical center that provides medical education and training to future and current health professionals. Teaching hospitals are almost always affiliated with one or more universities a ...

of the university.

Early life and education

Magoha was born in

Kisumu Kisumu ( ) is the third-largest city in Kenya located in the Lake Victoria area in the former Nyanza Province. It is the second-largest city after Kampala in the Lake Victoria Basin. The city has a population of slightly over 600,000. The ...

on 2 July 1952. He moved in with his older brother, John Obare and his wife Agatha Christine Obare, in Nairobi, on account of his agoha

asthma Asthma is a common long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wh ...

, at a young age. Magoha attended Dr David Livingstone Primary School, in

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

. He then attended Starehe Boys' Centre and School, where he completed his O-Level studies. He proceeded to

Strathmore School Strathmore School is Kenya's first multi-racial school, established in 1961 in the Lavington area of Nairobi. It began as a residential Sixth Form College offering British-styled A-level courses and in 1963 switched from the Cambridge School Certi ...

, for his A-Level education, graduating with a

High School Diploma A high school diploma (sometimes referred to as a high school degree) is a diploma awarded upon graduation of high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary s ...

. Magoha was awarded a scholarship to study human medicine at the

University of Lagos The University of Lagos (UNILAG) is a Public university, public research university located in Lagos, Nigeria, which was founded in 1962. UNILAG is one of the education in Nigeria#First generation universities, first generation universities in ...

, in Nigeria. His studies took him through the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, the University College Hospital, Ibadan, both in Nigeria and the

Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) is a not-for-profit medical professional and educational institution, which is also known as RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences. It was established in 1784 as the national body ...

Royal Postgraduate Medical School The Royal Postgraduate Medical School (RPMS) was an independent medical school, based primarily at Hammersmith Hospital in west London. In 1988, the school merged with the Institute of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, and in 1997 became part of Imperial ...

Hammersmith Hospital Hammersmith Hospital, formerly the Military Orthopaedic Hospital, and later the Special Surgical Hospital, is a major teaching hospital in White City, London, White City, West London. It is part of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in the ...

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. He was trained as a urologist and was a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.

Career

Magoha established his career in surgery at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital as an intern and rose to the position of Senior Resident and Clinical Lecturer in Surgery. He also served as a lecturer in the same hospital and a Consultant Surgeon in various leading hospitals in Lagos, Nigeria. He joined the

as a lecturer in Urological Surgery in 1988 and rose through the ranks to become a full Professor of Surgery in 2000. He served in various administrative positions at the university, rising from chairperson of the Academic Department of Surgery in 1999, Dean of the School of Medicine, Principal of the College of Health Sciences, Deputy Vice-Chancellor in charge of Administration and Finance to Vice-Chancellor in January 2005 after a competitive recruitment process. He is published in more than 60 peer-reviewed publications and supervised to completion more than 40 Master of Medicine (Surgery) students. He is a member of many professional bodies in Urology and Surgery including

British Association of Urological Surgeons The British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS) is a professional association in the United Kingdom for urology professionals. Its official journal is the '' BJU International'', established in 1929, which is also the journal of the Urolo ...

(BAUS), Société Internationale d’Urologie (SIU), among others. He was actively involved in research in male erectile dysfunction, prostate, testicular and penile cancers, circumcision and HIV/AIDs. His most remarkable achievement at the UoN were instituting discipline among the academic staff, non-teaching staff and the students, and revamping the management of the university by achieving performance targets he was given prior to being appointed. At the time he assumed office, apparently staff members never worked, lecturers missed classes and some even lost student examination marks. Student strikes were notoriously common and had damaged the institution's reputation. By meeting openly with students to discuss their issues, he created a safety valve for ventilation and preventing them from rioting. For the 10 years he served as the vice chancellor, the students went on strike fewer times than before his time in office. In 2016, with his record as a no-nonsense education administrator, he was appointed the Chairman of the Kenya National Examination Council, by President

Uhuru Kenyatta Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta ( born 26 October 1961) is a Kenyan politician who served as the fourth president of Kenya from 2013 to 2022. The son of Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya's first president, he previously served as Prime Minister of Kenya, Deputy Pri ...

. His immediate task as the Chairman of KNEC was to reform the council to arrest the widespread academic dishonesty and corruption in the administration of national examinations. He is credited to have dismantled cartels that had propagated exam cheating for years and restored credibility of exams in Kenya. On 1 March 2019, he was nominated as the Cabinet Secretary for Education in the Kenyan Cabinet, and was sworn in on 26 March 2019, replacing Amina Mohamed, who was transferred to the Sports docket. George Magoha joined

in Kisumu County as a professor of surgery to the School of Medicine on 17 January 2023 and was due to start his new role.

Death

Magoha died following a suspected cardiac arrest at the Nairobi Hospital, on 24 January 2023, aged 70. He had collapsed at home before being rushed to the hospital where he later succumbed after efforts to resuscitate him were futile. Magoha was known to be tough-talking and no-nonsense during his tenure at the Ministry of Education, where he served at the helm as a Cabinet Secretary.

Achievements

Magoha was the author of a book, ''Tower of Transformational Leadership'', published by Kenway Publications in 2017. It is an autobiographical account of his experience as a leader in various roles in medicine, surgery, academia and the community. As of May 2017, he was the chairman of the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board. Magoha is also celebrated for playing a key role in transforming the education sector both as a lecturer at the University of Nairobi and during his tenure at the Ministry of Education. In his 12 year tenure at the University of the Nairobi, he served as the Chairman of the Academic Department of Surgery, Dean of the School of Medicine and Principal of the College of Health Sciences. UoN Vice Chancellor – 2005. During his tenure he helped enhance accountability at the finance department as and the quality teaching and discipline among the students. Chair the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) – 2016.

Succession table as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nairobi

References

External links

Biography of Professor George Magoha
{{DEFAULTSORT:Magoha, George 1952 births 2023 deaths Luo people Kenyan surgeons Academic staff of the University of Nairobi University of Lagos alumni Kenyan physicians Urologists Government ministers of Kenya People from Siaya County Heads of universities in Kenya Vice-chancellors of universities in Kenya 20th-century Kenyan physicians 20th-century surgeons 21st-century Kenyan physicians 21st-century surgeons Alumni of Starehe Boys Centre and School Alumni of Strathmore School